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References to mental disorders in early Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Roman writings show that the physicians and philosophers who contemplated problems of human behavior regarded mental illnesses as a reflection of the displeasure of the gods or as evidence of demoniac possession. Only a few realized that individuals with mental illnesses should be treated humanely rather than exorcised, punished, or banished. Certain Greek medical writers, however, notably Hippocrates (flourished 400 bce), regarded mental disorders as diseases to be understood in terms of disturbed physiology. He and his followers emphasized natural causes, clinical observation, and brain pathology. Later Greek medical writers, ...(100 of 23131 words)